Chapter 47
Dume’s phone rang early, too early, and he rolled over, blindly reaching for it. Bruce’s number showed on the screen, and he bolted upright. “Hello?”
Bruce’s voice was distraught and barely coherent. “Sera,” he blubbered. “I-I came to check on her because she wasn’t returning my calls.” Dume heard Sera’s voice say something in the background, and he relaxed slightly until Bruce spoke again. “We have to find Rory.”
“What’s happened to Sera and Rory?” Dume demanded, putting his phone on speaker while he pulled on a pair of jeans.
Bruce replied with more incoherent words, and there was rustling in the background before Sera’s voice came through the speaker. “Dume, it’s Gedeon,” she yelled into the receiver. “H-he shifted into me days ago.”
Dume’s blood ran cold. “That’s not possible.”
She stopped crying enough that he could understand her, but barely. “He can shift into people. I don’t understand how he does it. He chained me to the sink in my bathroom.” Her sobs broke his heart, and if someone else didn’t kill Gedeon, he would.
“He met with someone this afternoon,” she hiccupped. “It might be Rory. You need to find her.”
Dume grabbed his keys. “Put Bruce back on the phone.”
“I’m sorry,” Bruce said when he took the phone from his daughter.
“It’s understandable,” Dume assured him. “Call emergency services. Sera needs to see a doctor immediately, but do not tell them about the Lux King. Say it was an unknown intruder.”
“I will.” Bruce hung up, and Dume called Rory’s phone.
It went straight to a recorded message. He tried Sam, and the Angel didn’t answer either.
Lauren was his last hope. “Hello?”
His knees almost buckled at the sound of her voice. “Where’s Rory?”
“She should be at the safe house,” Lauren replied. “Why?”
Dume gave her a rundown of what happened, and she said every curse word he’d ever heard, along with some he hadn’t. “Have you checked the house yet?”
“No. I’m headed there now.” He cursed when he realized a cab couldn’t drive him to the safe house. Holding his phone out, he texted Keith.
“I’ll meet you there,” she said and hung up.
Dume and Keith arrived at the safe house and jumped out of the truck. Kordie went to the hospital to check on Sera. Keith didn’t want her coming with him in case something happened, and Dume agreed. Their friend had no skills to protect herself if they were to walk into an ambush.
Lauren’s SUV pulled up shortly after, and once in the house, they called Rory’s name, searching everywhere. Patrick walked out of his room with sleep-swollen eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Did you see Rory when you got home this morning?” Lauren asked.
Patrick snapped out of his sleepy stupor. “I took off last night. I’ve been asleep, but she and Sam were here when I went to bed.”
“Maybe she’s with Sam,” Keith suggested, with hope in his voice.
“Sam’s phone is off. It’s only off when he’s back in Vincula,” Lauren replied.
Violence radiated from the Angel, but her face betrayed nothing. “We can’t take chances. We have to go to The Capital.”
“How will we find her?” Dume asked. “The Capital is huge.”
Lauren grabbed her hair and pulled it back into a tight ponytail.
“Gedeon will keep her in the palace where he has control and his minion guards. I know I am risking your lives when I ask this of you, but I need your help searching the palace. It’s too big for me to cover alone, and if I go to Vincula to find Sam, we might be too late. ”
“I’ll go,” Dume volunteered. “I’ve been to the palace before. I don’t remember it now, but I will once inside The Capital gates.”
“I’m going too,” Keith added. “I can shift and try to find her scent.”
“Head to the car while I throw on clothes,” Patrick said, rushing into his room. Dume knew that Patrick was thinking of Cora’s death. They couldn’t lose Rory too.
They ran outside and piled into Lauren’s car, and once Patrick was ready, they left in a hurry.
As they drove, Lauren gave them instructions, sounding every bit the commander Sam was. Dume and Lauren were to search independently, and Keith was to sniff Rory out in wolf form with Patrick, who would help open doors for the Shifter or deter people when needed.
It was daytime, and there would be a full staff, but it wasn’t completely unheard of for non-staff to be at the palace. It wasn’t common, but it happened.
Lauren would go to Gedeon’s quarters, and Dume would check the east wing near the judgment chambers since he was familiar with that area.
If any guards tried to stop them, they were to incapacitate them. Lauren told them to act like they needed help, and when they were close enough, hit a certain pressure point on their neck to knock them out.
They agreed to not kill any Aatxe guards because they were innocents and, worst case scenario, would take them to the judgment chambers to face Adila.
Non-Aatxe guards were a different story.
Dume’s stomach flipped at the thought of hurting someone innocent, but he might not have a choice.
He and Lauren would have no issue taking down non-Aatxe guards, and Keith swore he could fight as a wolf. It would have to be enough. The one thing benefiting them was that no guns were allowed in The Capital, not even for the guards.
Assuming those rules still applied to the king’s special guards.
Lauren kept barking out instructions as the others listened intently. If they found Rory and Gedeon was with her, they agreed to stay hidden and call Lauren. She was the only one powerful enough in their group to fight the Lux King.
Once at The Capital gates, Lauren spoke with the guards, and they permitted her to enter without inspection. After parking, she led them around the palace to the staff entrance.
With one last look at one another, they split up, praying to the Seraphim they’d find Rory in time.